PARLIAMENT | Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim (BN-Baling) refused to leave the Dewan Rakyat proceedings this morning despite being slapped with a two-day suspension order by Speaker Mohamad Ariff Mohd Yusof.
Ariff suspended Azeez (above) for two days after the latter accused him of being "one-sided" during the Dewan Rakyat proceedings today.
The incident started when Mahdzir Khalid (BN-Padang Terap) requested to move a motion to debate the banning of the controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for Win Winism comic which was distributed in schools recently.
Ariff told the lawmakers that he had already given a written reply to Mahdzir saying he rejected the motion as the matter was currently under investigation and there was no urgency.
This caused several opposition MPs to urge the speaker to allow the motion regardless, while government backbenchers such as RSN Rayer (Harapan-Jelutong) defended the speaker's decision.
"Jelutong, who are you to do the speaker's job? Shut up and sit down," Abdul Azeez said.
Ariff, formerly a Court of Appeal judge, immediately asked Azeez to retract the words "shut up" which he did.
The speaker then stood by his decision to reject Mahdzir's motion despite continuous urging by opposition MPs.
"I have already carried out my duty as a speaker. I have made my decision, there is no need to debate (the comic) under Standing Order 18," Ariff ruled.
"But this is not fair. This is not fair. Cannot lah, this is not fair," Azeez then said, but the speaker did not respond to him.
Shahidan Kassim (BN-Arau) then cited Standing Order 36(4) and insisted that the distribution of the comic needed to stop immediately even though it was already under investigation.
However, Standing Order 36(4) only states that "It shall be out of order for MPs to use offensive language or make a sexist remark", which several government MPs pointed out.
At this point, Shahidan brought up an incident from yesterday's Dewan Rakyat session, saying that Rayer had called him "stupid" but the speaker did not ask the Jelutong MP to retract it.
"Who said it? Jelutong, please retract the word 'stupid' if you said it," Ariff said, to which Rayer immediately complied.
'Kick him out'
As the lawmakers continued to shout over each other despite their microphones being intermittently switched on and off, Ariff suddenly pointed at Abdul Azeez.
"I heard that, Baling. Retract it. Retract it. I have already asked Jelutong to retract the word 'stupid'.
"Baling said I was being 'one-sided'. Yes or no? Retract it.
"If you say I am one-sided one more time, I will kick you out," Ariff warned the Baling MP.
Though his microphone was off, Azeez could still be seen saying something to the speaker.
"Serjeant-at-arms, kick him out, for two days," Ariff then instructed.
Azeez, however, insisted he had already retracted his words but the speaker was unmoved.
"I have already retracted, why am I being kicked out? Why can't I retract? I already said I retract, I have retracted with respect," Azeez said.
Ariff ignored him and insisted he leave the chambers.
"Follow the speaker's order. Get out. Get out. You retracted but you continued to speak as if you are ignoring my orders. This is an old tactic. Two days (of suspension)," Ariff said.
However, Azeez refused to leave and sat back down while questioning why he was being kicked out despite having retracted his remarks.
Ariff merely shook his head before saying, "Get out. Get out. Two days. Today and tomorrow. Monday is a holiday, come back on Tuesday. Continue with the motion," the speaker said.
Azeez, however, continued to sit down at his place without moving.
A short while later, after the Dewan Rakyat proceedings had moved onto the Budget 2020 debate, Khoo Poay Tiong (Harapan-Kota Melaka) stood up and pointed out to the speaker that Azeez still had not left the Dewan Rakyat.
"Just leave him be," Ariff said, before calling for the sitting to proceed.
Back in March 2018, Lim Kit Siang (Harapan-Gelang Patah) was suspended for six months from the Dewan Rakyat by then speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia.
However, Lim also sat back down in his seat, refusing to cooperate with the serjeant-at-arms who was supposed to escort him out.
'Nothing to stop debate on something under investigation'
At a PAS-Umno joint press conference later, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan (photo), who is also the Kota Bharu MP, criticised Ariff's ruling.
Takiyuddin said Ariff's letter to Mahdzir did not mention that the issue was not urgent but instead stated that it was already under investigation.
"According to my observation, there is nothing in the standing order that says this cannot be debated simply because it is under investigation.
"It is based on this observation that Baling had said the speaker did not make a fair decision," he said.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Ismail Sabri said they not only wanted to talk about the move to try and circulate the comics in schools but also to call the Home Ministry to ban the books.
"This book promotes a communist ideology," he said.
As such, Ismail believes that this fulfilled the condition that the motion must is urgent.
"However, the speaker rejected it," he said. - Mkini
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